Teddy Bear
by AutumnFroste
Summary: The plan was for the mission to take no longer than a week, but Nat and Steve have been missing for over two months... This takes place between 'Luck' and 'Trouble.' It doesn't have to be read in order, but it will help explain some of Steve's actions in 'Trouble.' Natasha/Pepper/Tony
1. Chapter 1: Doll

Ch. 1

They threw her into the cell. Steve tried to catch her before she hit the floor, but he just wasn't quick enough. She was down to her sports bra and the compression shorts she wore underneath her uniform. He brushed her hair out of her face to reveal it bloodied from a cut in her hairline. She had a knot forming beside the cut. She had bruises running all over her body in the shapes of handprints from where they'd obviously had problems keeping her where they wanted her. From the shape of her knuckles, it looked like she'd at least gotten in a few licks of her own at some point.

Steve smiled, _Atta girl. Give 'em Hell._

"St-Steve?" She gasped through her chattering teeth.

"Yeah, Doll. I'm right here." He picked her up just as easily as he would a real doll and held her close to him, hoping his body warmth would help. Steve carried her to the pallet bedding they'd made right after they'd gotten there. Their captors had at least given them softish pallets to lay on, pillows, and blankets. They'd slid theirs together in an effort to keep warm. Nat couldn't seem to get warm, while Steve was a little chilly, but otherwise okay.

"You're the only one allowed to call me that." She took a shallow breath, "And never when anyone can hear you."

Steve grinned, "Yes, ma'am." He stroked a piece of her red hair that had gotten in her face out of the way and kissed her forehead. He tucked her body into his lap as much as he could.

"You figure out why they keep taking you instead of me?" Steve asked once he saw her beginning to drift off. He wanted to talk to her a little longer.

"That's easy," she said, never opening her eyes.

Steve crinkled his eyebrow, "Alright, smarty pants, go."

"The way to torture _you_ is through your friends. Plus, they're hoping that I might slip up and give them some information, which is highly unlikely." Steve couldn't help but smile at her stubbornness. "So, it's two birds with one stone. Eventually, they're going to bring you in to watch a torture session go down, which is both stupid and smart on their part. Smart because if it were going to break you, that would be how; stupid because I know how you'll go off. You are an unknown. They just don't realize it. So, while they think they're rattling your cage, they're most likely giving you the keys to the lock. It just may take you a few times to figure out where the right key is." She shook again and he squeezed her closer. He gently toppled them over, so he could pull the blankets fully over the two of them. Steve hoped that between their body warmth and the thin blankets, they could warm her up. He was beginning to worry about her health.

"Can I ask you something personal?"

She opened her green eyes and looked into his bright blue ones, "By this point, I think we can ask each other whatever we want, ya Dork."

Steve sighed, "What's the deal with you, Pepper, and Tony? How did that happen anyway?"

Nat smiled broadly, "Clint owes me twenty bucks. He said you were too chicken to ask." Steve's cheeks flushed pink. "Pepper and I hooked up after she and Tony got together. We already clicked when I was undercover at SI when Tony was sick, so… Anyway, they had an open relationship. Tony said it wasn't fair since she liked girls as well, and to close that part of herself off was wrong. About six months after they'd got everything settled in their relationship, I was in Malibu and ran across her while I was working undercover at the same gala she was, and I was using the same alias as I did when I worked at SI. She caught me by myself, and I explained what was going on. Then I brought her in and used her as an employment reference to lure my target in. I got the info I needed much quicker with her help. Then well, one thing led to another and well let's just say we've been pretty happy on that front since then. Then Pepper talked to Tony, and he hadn't changed his mind about how he initially felt about me. Working with me as an Avenger gave him the warm and fuzzies, plus I made Pepper happy, so we tried it out for ourselves. Now, we're all together."

"Not that I mind the shortened version of that, but you made it seem way shorter than I think it really was," the soldier said with a mischievous spark in his smile.

Nat began to laugh and then grabbed her ribs in pain, "I didn't think you wanted all the lurid details."

Steve chuckled, "I'm afraid to ask."

"If you have any generalized questions, I can educate you. Don't be embarrassed," she countered.

He sighed and kissed her on the forehead, "Alright you, get comfortable. I know how you love to cuddle up, and you need some kip."

"You do, too." Steve squeezed her gently, being mindful of her ribs. "We should have another three hours and forty-two minutes before they come back for me." She reached for his hand to hold.

"You and Bucky. After I rescued him from Zola, he could keep time to the minute, too."

"It's useful when you're an assassin," Nat yawned and tucked her head under his chin. "Nite, Steve."

"Nite, Doll."

~.~

True to Natasha's word, three hours and forty-two minutes later, the guards came for her. They gassed the cell and ripped her right out of Steve's sleeping arms. After a few days, the new round of torture began. An hour after that, the door to their prison cell opened and was left that way, just as she had predicted. Steve followed the maze that was laid before him to find a pane of what he thought was glass separating them. She was hanging from the ceiling with her hands cuffed and chained from one hook and each of her feet cuffed to a short chain then to another hook in the floor. There was a man in a mask dressed all in black asking her questions in Russian. Steve stood there as she either refused to answer or he punched her after he didn't like her answer. He looked around the room for anything that he could use to break the glass. He tried beating on it, but all that did was make Nat's torture worse. The man stopped using his fists and began cutting her skin, not deeply enough for her to exsanguinate, just deep enough to hurt, making her cry out. Sometimes even deep enough for butterfly bandages.

When the man was done, Nat was brought into the cell, dripping wet, many times still bleeding.

There was a shower and toilet in the cell that was partially walled off. Steve had showered quickly in the cold water while he waited for them to bring him Natasha.

Steve was given the nonlethal first aid supplies, and he automatically went to cleaning her up, sometimes having to drag her into the shower to ensure the cuts were clean after she'd been unceremoniously dumped on the floor. She was given three days to recover, then they would begin again.

While Steve was out of their cell watching Natasha be tortured, it was cleaned up. The old bandages taken away, new bedding replaced, and if it'd been a particularly brutal "session," they were given better bedding and clothes to change into. Steve couldn't make sense of any of it. All he was left with were unanswered questions, which were seriously beginning to irritate him.

"Nat?" Steve asked. He glanced up to find her beginning to nod off. "Hey, Doll?"

"Hmm?" She barely opened her eyes.

He stared into her sleepy face for a few seconds before asking his question, "Why do they keep doing this?"

"They're trying to break you mentally. The screaming, the bleeding, whatever... it's all about breaking you."

He scooped some of her long red hair out of her face. "Then why are they doing it to you?"

.

"They're just trying to break me. No one ever has, unless I want them to think they have. I hope these people don't ever realize what I went through growing up just trying to survive. If they ever do, I'm in trouble." She smiled ever so slightly.

"You just hang on. We're gonna get out of here." He picked her up and carried her to their pallet as gently as he could. He climbed in behind her.

She snuggled up to him just like she had over the past two months and three days. She smiled against his chest and grabbed his hand, "I never had any doubt we would, Cap."


	2. Chapter 2: Tag! You're it!

Chapter 2: Tag, You're It!

Tony pounded his hand down on the table. "How is it that we don't have any sign of them? They've been missing for two and a half months when they were supposed to be gone for a week!"

"Stark?" someone inquired as he approached.

Tony looked up from the picture of Pepper and Nat he'd taken when they'd sneaked away to the mountains one weekend to one of Nat's safehouses. Pepper and Nat were on the hammock talking while he'd been inside talking to some company that didn't understand what exactly it was that he wanted them to produce. He hated outsourcing. But when he looked out the window he saw a perfect picture of the two beautiful gingers in his life. He took a picture of them while he was still on the phone with the producer. It was just them being themselves and relaxing, something you don't get to see very often.

"Yeah, Barton?" he answered as he set the picture frame down.

"First of all," Clint was nowhere near calm, "I want to know why I'm just _now_ hearing about this. I don't care that I was on a mission of my own!" He stood up and slammed both of his hands against the table, dangerously close to Tony, causing his coffee to spill over the side. He took a breath, "Secondly, if you were a kidnapper of two Avengers, two people whose bodies contained the super-solider serum, would you throw out their gear?"

"Probably not, no." Tony crinkled his eyebrows, "Why?"

"Nat and I tag each other and our stuff all the time when we partner in case we lose something or each other. That way we can find it later, if well, we lose it. Have you tried looking for Cap's shield?"

"Alright, Barton. How do you two play this game? Is it labeled 'Cap's shield'?"

Clint sat at the computer and brought up the program he and Nat used for tracking, "It's a little more difficult than that, but kinda." Clint brought up a program that had the Earth on it. Both "Teeth" and "Frisbee" among a veritable set of other weapons Nat carried on her person were located sixteen miles from where their mission was supposed to take place. "And Ta-Daaa!"

Tony looked at the map and the various names that popped up for various weapons, reading some of the names aloud, which ranged from BFG to Vera all the way down to Noisy Cricket.

"You guys have an ass ton of toys."

"The BFG is Coulson's." Clint turned his head slightly to the right to look at him, "Besides you never know when you might need to go play against or sometimes get even with a bully."


	3. Chapter 3- Где Солдат?

"Где Солдат?" The masked man asked quietly.

{"Where's the Soldier?"}

Natasha looked up at him and in an evenly bored matched tone replied, "Я не знаю."

{I don't know.}

He took the cane in his hand and hit her across the back. Natasha bit back a cry, knowing it would just make Steve feel worse.

"Где Солдат?" He demanded.

{"Where's the Soldier?"}

"И даже если бы я это сделал, я бы не сказал тебе!"

{"I don't know! And even if I did I wouldn't tell you!"}

He hit her harder with the cane, drawing blood. Natasha made an "Oof" sound as the cane crossed her ribs, knocking the wind out of her.

"Где Солдат!?" He shouted.

{"Where's the Soldier?"}

Natasha knew then he'd lost any control he'd had over the situation. Her face lit up with glee, in a very singsong voice as she smiled, egging the Russian man on, "Что случилось? Без солдата вы не можете делать свои собственные мокрые работы? Вы одиноки? Вы потеряли игрушку? О, кто-то в беде?" she said mockingly.

{"What's the matter? Without the Soldier, you can't do your own wet works? Are you lonesome? Did you lose your plaything? Oh, is someone in trouble?"}

Steve was standing in the room watching her torture as usual. "What are you doing, Nat?" he murmured. "I don't speak that much Russian, but even I know he's asking you about a soldier. And now you're baiting him? Damn it, I'm going to learn more Russian when we get back."

The masked man began wailing on her with the cane and began speaking in English with a thick Russian accent. "You think this is funny?"

She grinned manically at him, "I think it's fucking hilarious!"

"We will find him with or without your help!"

"No, you won't," she sang at him again.

He hit her hard enough to knock her loose from the hook her hands were hanging from. She hit the ground with a hard "Oof!"

Steve began beating on the wall trying to get to Nat.

The Man turned to speak to Steve. "Do you like watching your friend get hurt?" The man pointed his hand back toward Nat. "We always wondered how much a Widow could take before it killed her, but we couldn't risk one of our own. This seemed like the perfect solution."

The man suddenly felt arms around him, chains still attached to the wrists. She whispered in his ear, "Do you want to know a secret? The reason I've lasted so long?"

The man's eyes lit up, "Yes!"

"Too bad." Natasha broke his neck. She let his body drop to the ground under its own weight.


	4. Chapter 4 - Rescue Squad

Chapter 4- Rescue Squad

* DISCLAIMER:

I am not a doctor, nurse or any other form medical personnel. My background is in forensic science and a bunch of other ridiculous weird stuff. If you want more details than that, PM me. Anyway, now that I've bored you from not reading this chapter, here's the rest of my disclaimer. :P This is what I remember from college, (so waaaay long time ago) when my work study job occasionally required me to be the dummy (Yeah, I already hear the jokes forming, I'm making them myself.) or half-listening to the EMT class while I did paperwork. So, if someone sees a Boo Boo, please let me know. I try to let y'all know when you folks do stuff like put a "safety" on a Glock. I own one. It sleeps in my thigh holster on the bed. Gives me the warm and fuzzies. Point being, if I'm wrong, I'm a big girl, I won't get my thong in a twist, let me know and I'll fix it. Happy Reading and THANK YOU! XD

Stepping over him, she opened the panel that had been keeping Steve at bay.

"Not that I can blame you, but you killed possibly our only way out of here."

"Keys are in his left lab coat pocket. Steve… I… I don't feel so good." Steve caught her before she could hit the floor.

He picked her up, her forehead tucked into his neck. "Doll? Nat? You're burning up!"

She took a deep breath, "I'll be fine. Take me to the room in there. It's the key that has the blue dot on it."

He sat her down on her feet by the door while he unlocked it. Thankfully, they found the room empty. Nat stumbled into the nearest chair, sitting sideways and wincing as she sat because of her injuries. She leaned her head against the chair back and closed her eyes. She breathed in and out steadily.

"How you doing over there?" Steve asked, glancing over at her as he rifled through the cabinets. He wanted to find something for her wounds, weapons, or both; he'd prefer both. He came across some linens to begin cleaning up her wounds.

"Just peachy." She leaned her head on her arm, "Whoa, you feel that?"

"Felt like an explosion." Steve turned and looked at her, "Dunno if that's good or bad."

"Clint must've gotten off his mission and told Tony how to track us," Nat smiled.

"There's a way Clint knows that Tony doesn't?" He ran the cloth under the cool water before gently moving it over her face a few times.

"Yeah, just hadn't thought about it till now. It's one Clint and I've been doing for years."

"We still need to get you cleaned up a little bit, so you're not dripping blood from that damn cane." He wiped over her face again and over her back and ribs. "There. At least you don't look so much like Carrie anymore."

Nat snorted, "You read the book or watch the movies?"

"All three."

"Who talked you into that?"

"Clint."

"Shoulda known."

"We were on a stakeout. Not a whole lot to do when you're waiting on someone else and there was a marathon."

Nat chuckled, her eyes were beginning to droop.

Steve turned to the sink to rinse out the rag and looked back just in time to catch her from falling out of the chair. "Nat! Come on, Doll! Stay with me!" He picked her up and put her on the exam table in the room. He lifted her shirt, which had begun to turn to rags upon the caning. He saw a large area of dark purple skin. The area was also swelling and getting worse from what he could tell. These were both symptoms of internal bleeding as was her passing out.

The door leading out of the room and hopefully out of the base seemingly disappeared in a flash, revealing Iron Man standing in the hole.

"Cap!" Tony exclaimed, and then his eyes settled on Natasha. "What's wrong with her? What did they do?"

"She just passed out a few minutes ago. I think she has internal bleeding on top of her other injuries. We need to get her to a hospital!"

"The Jet's outside. Follow me." As much as Tony wanted to pick her up, he knew it'd be more comfortable for her if she woke up to have Steve carrying her instead of him in the Iron Man suit. Where she wasn't covered in blood, she was varying shades of bruise. As soon as they were in sight of the Jet, Tony gave word and the Avengers gathered back together on the QuinJet. Steve stood back and watched as Tony and Bruce hooked Nat up to whatever medicines they thought would ease her pain.

Suddenly, Natasha's monitors started beeping and the readings went off the charts.

"Barton, how straight and even can you fly this bird?" Bruce yelled.

"As perfect as you need it," Clint yelled back confidently. He'd do whatever it would take for them to save his best friend.

"Good," Bruce said. "I have to perform a Thoracotomy, and I really don't need to fuck this up."

Steve looked up from Nat to Bruce, "English Bruce. Simple English."

"I didn't want to do this while she was awake, but she's obviously in pain. She keeps losing consciousness. We've looked her over and her Ecchymosis is getting worse. We scanned her and the only option is an immediate Thoracotomy."

"What's Ecchy—" Steve began to ask.

"It's the purple area of the skin." Bruce tilted her gently, so he could have easier access to her exposed torso. "See how the dark area has grown in size just since you've brought her on board? That means the bleeding underneath is getting worse and is gathering here and here." Bruce pointed to the two spots where the internal bleeding seemed to be the worst. "The Thoracotomy is for bleeding around the heart and lungs. I have to make an incision along her rib cage and her sternum. Both are pooling blood at a dramatic rate. Once I get into her chest, hopefully, I can identify and stop the bleeding, while also protecting the heart and lungs from pressure caused by the excess blood.

"You don't ask for anything easy, do ya, Bruce?" Tony said, stroking Nat's hair.

"Just save our girl," Steve said.

"Alright, ready?" Clint asked.

"Ready as I'll ever be," Bruce responded. He slid on the special glasses he and Tony had made to make it easier to see and operate on a person in the field.

"Now... would be… a good time." Nat gasped out slowly. She grabbed Steve's hand and squeezed. He'd almost forgotten she had such a grip. He squeezed back just as fiercely. She stared into his eyes, barely blinking, as Bruce prepped her and began to operate.

Bruce located a point where it appeared the two areas were pooling blood together and decided to make the incision there, hoping to limit the number of incisions he'd have to make and the pain he'd have to cause. The three of them turned Nat slightly on her side to make the area easier for Bruce to reach. He had the entire procedure completed within a short time.

"You guys done?" Clint asked. "We're about to the Tower."

"Yeah, this is a good stopping place," the doctor answered as he stitched Nat up. "Do you think you could give her a sponge bath while I look over Steve?" Bruce asked Tony. "We need to see how badly she's injured."

Steve frowned, "You don't have to look me over. Aside from our initial capture, which was really them just trapping us in a room, gassing us, and stripping us down to our skivvies, they never laid a hand on me. They'd come for Natasha, gas the room to make sure we didn't put up a fight, take her out and torture her. At first, they made sure I could hear it, then they began making sure I could watch. If I beat on the window or made any other ruckus, they punished her." Steve looked guiltily at the floor while he recalled his story.

"Mental torture for you by being physical to her," Clint said. "Do you know if they asked her any questions?"

"It was all in Russian. I could only really understand one word, and I think they were asking her about a soldier. My Russian sucks. I'm used to Nat slowing it down for me and even then, I only know a few words and phrases."

Bruce took his glasses off and rubbed his eyes. "Give her a day or two at least to recover, _before_ you start badgering her." He looked around at the group of men, "I mean it. She's been through a lot." He patted Steve's arm. "You both have. I think she'd like to wake up clean, and surely, you'd like a real shower in your own room. Try and get a nap, eh?"

Steve nodded then scoffed at himself. "I've gotten so used to sleeping next to Nat, I don't know if I can."


	5. Chapter 5- Let Me Tell You a Secret

Chapter 5- Let Me Tell You a Secret

Clint walked Steve out of the room while they got ready to bathe her before Pepper arrived. "Let me tell you a not-so-secret. There's plenty of times when we still sneak into each other's beds from a nightmare. Somehow I swear she just knows." Clint shook his head in astonishment, tears in his eyes, "I'll turn over and she's right there. Her arms are around me, and she's telling me all the things I need to hear. She's got the sweetest, most calming voice, like an angel. You'll believe anything she tells you."

"I kept telling her we were going to escape and she kept saying, 'Of course we will.' Like she didn't have a doubt in the world." Steve shrugged. "Even I began to have doubts." The soldier couldn't help but admire her resolve and determination. Nat may have been a spy, but she was a good teammate, too.

"Cap, I want you to think about something," Clint said earnestly. "Natasha spent who knows how many years under the Red Room, the KGB. Hell, even HYDRA! But what's the one thing that she didn't do?" Clint paused as he turned to look at Cap, "She never gave up on escaping. She may have believed their rhetoric for a while. I mean, Hell, she was brainwashed in that machine God knows how many times. She even went rogue for a bit, but she escaped her past to become who she is today. She's not letting anyone take that away from her. If anything, she was making a plan of her own for you both to escape."

"I kinda think that's what happened," Steve said sheepishly, running his fingers through his now-overgrown blond hair.

"Steve, partners save each other's asses. It's what we do," the archer stated. "She saves mine a helluva lot. Sometimes it's embarrassing how often she saves mine, but she does it." Clint snorted, "We were waiting for extraction several years back. She was running a fever. Her temp always tends to run on the high side, like yours, but higher than even for her. I left for twenty minutes, tops, to get some Tylenol, soup and bread. When I got back she was delirious with a fever." Clint shook his head, "Her temp was so high she was shivering because she was so cold. I was terrified. In the five years we'd worked together before, I'd seen her walk off things _no_ one should have been able to walk off, and here she was running a high fever and shaking."

"What did you do?" Steve asked curiously.

Clint leaned against the elevator wall. "The only thing I could, I called Fury on his secure line and told him what was going on. I didn't know what info Nat was sent in to get. It was quote 'above my paygrade,' but it needed her special skills and talents that other SHIELD agents aren't trained in. I figured if it was that important, the council'd want their agent back or we were totally fucked. Either way, I wasn't letting her die alone in that shithole." The veteran agent clenched his hands in frustration, but he then relaxed. "While I was gone," he shook his head unbelievably, "she'd written at least twenty notes to me that 'Everything is going to be fine,' and they were everywhere you could think to look and in multiple languages."

"Wow," Steve was genuinely surprised.

"It was then I got real determined that _everything_ was going to be fine." Clint shook his head and paced for a few moments before turning back to his teammate. "I got the Tylenol, then some soup and Powerade in her. Then I picked her up and we snuggled on the shitty couch watching shitty TV. I had her wrapped up against me as best as I could, laying on my chest. I thought she had fallen asleep. I got a text that said, 'Extraction Imminent' from Phil. I was so relieved. Suddenly, she picked her head up, her eyes glassy with fever, and smiled. You know her 'real' smile?" Steve nodded. "She looked me in the eyes and said that it didn't matter how many times she saved me. It'd never equal to me saving her from herself." Clint swallowed and wiped his eye.

He cleared his throat, "She smiled at me again and wrapped both her arms around me and hugged me. She laid her head back on my chest right as Phil walked into the room and squatted down in front of her. He touched her forehead, and she said, "Goodnight, Phil." She didn't even wake up during the extraction. After that she was in a medically induced coma for the next three days so she could recover."

"That's… That's something. _She's_ something." Steve blinked. It seemed like yet another mission Nat had been sent on that she wasn't expected to survive. Steve was beginning to see a pattern in her background. It looked as if it continued on from Russia to SHIELD with the only difference being Clint and Coulson were added to some of those missions.

"That she is, but don't let her know you think that. It takes her a while to cope though she's gotten better since she's been with Pepper and Stark." Clint smiled like a proud older brother.

Thanks for walking me up here, Clint," Steve said with a wry grin.

Clint gave him a small smile, "Don't think Nat would forgive me if I let you fall on your face on the way to your floor." He turned to walk out when he thought better of it, "Hey, Cap, don't be surprised if you wake up with her in your bed. Don't be shocked if you're invited into hers either. You may have to fight with Stark for a spot, but you'll at least get to hold her hand, and Pepper will scoot over and give you hers once she realizes what's going on. Whatever you do, don't worry about room. We could fit almost the whole team on that bed if we wanted. Go get a shower and some kip. If you can't, come find her. She's good about being welcoming when you need her." Clint patted him on the arm and walked out of his quarters.


	6. Chapter 6- Showers and Teddy Bears

Chapter 6 – Showers and Teddy Bears

"Can I please just sit in the lab shower _in_ a chair? It'll hurt less in the long run." Nat stared at Tony and Bruce.

"I'm concerned that you're even awake," Bruce said.

"I tell you what," she said. "Get Clint. He has more experience with this than anyone should."

"Hey." Clint rounded the corner, "What's going on?"

"Nat wants a shower," said Tony, both concern and mild irritation edging his tone.

"Okay… Is there a problem with this?" the archer asked.

"Bruce is concerned that I'm awake already. Tony is trying to not say anything to upset me.

Clint, you and I both know the longer we wait to get these clothes off, the more difficult it's going to be, especially in the wound areas."

"Okay, get two lab chairs, and everyone strip down to your skivvies. Grab the disinfectant, and anything you might feel you may need for wound care."

Tony shrugged, "Do as the man says."

"I suppose it's going to be messy and painful no matter how we do it, but if I keeps her happy, we might as well," Bruce groused.

"How did you know to do it that way?" Bruce asked Clint while looking through the observation window at a sleeping Natasha.

"We've done that before in the rain," Clint admitted. Astounded, Bruce looked at him with raised eyebrows. "Yeah, I know, not always the most sanitary of options, but that's when you try to find a roof or concrete. They're usually better than the ground."

Bruce nodded, "Not a bad plan, I suppose."

"Besides it's quicker than trying to do it little by little. If you go ahead and let it soak, the scabs that may have formed or the dirt that may be caught in the wounds makes it easier to release from the fabric. Learned it from Nat. Plus you get a cleaner feeling at the same time. The person helping you gets to see how badly you're actually injured, so you get to tell the injured one 'to sit on her ass and like it,' too." Clint gave his partner a pointed look through the window. Even if she couldn't see him, he felt vindicated.

"I see what part you enjoy," Tony grinned at him.

"I'm not ashamed of it. As many times as she's done it for me, it's nice to turn it around every so often." Clint crossed his arms with a satisfied smile.

Bruce shook his head, "I'll remind you of that when she doesn't want to stay in bed."

"That's what I'm for." Pepper had sneaked in the door while the three were good-naturedly bickering. She walked over to Tony, who embraced her tightly, "How is she?"

"They did a number on her, but she's gonna make it," Clint said. "Just don't be surprised if you find Cap wanting to sleep in your bed periodically to remind himself she's still alive … and vice versa. She's pretty good at predicting when you're going to have one of those fear-encompassing nightmares."

Tony, Pepper, and Bruce all smiled. "Yes, she is," the three chorused together.

"Would you look at that?" Pepper said quietly.

As soon as the door opened to her infirmary room, Nat's eyes opened. "Hey, you. Wondered where you were." Nat was already slid as far over as she could be on one side of the bed.

"Come on, I left you room."

"Nat…"

"Get your ass over here, Rogers. I wouldn't have been able to sleep without my pillow anyway."

Steve smiled, "Okay fine, but I was really just coming to check on you." He kicked off his shoes and slowly climbed into bed beside her. They snuggled up just like they always did, her head on

his bicep, his on the pillow. "Glad Tony bought extra-large beds."

"I reminded him that I was the smallest one and that half the time someone else sneaked into my bed with me and we all needed elbow room," the redhead explained petulantly.

"Hey, Doll?"

Nat took a deep of breath as she dared before exhaling, "Yeah?"

"Just wanted to make sure you were here."

Nat grabbed his hand, "Feel like it now?"

"Yeah," he yawned.

"JARVIS, give us a nice soft rainstorm." The sounds of a rainstorm began. "Alright Steve," she gave him a squeeze. "Bedtime. No certain time to wake up, but it better be at least eight hours."

She put her arm over his waist for a moment and signed, 'I love you' in ASL toward the observation window. She knew her lovers and best friend were standing in there watching her.

Clint suddenly laughed from behind the window, "You realize the fiercest, smallest, one of us is the Team Teddy Bear."

Pepper smiled proudly, "I guess she is.


	7. Chapter 7 - Cuddle Puddle

Ch 7 – Cuddle Puddles

"Where are they?" Pepper asked as she walked urgently toward Steve. "Nat said Tony had a panic attack."

Steve smiled to himself, "They're asleep on the couch in the common room. Now that he has her back, I don't think he's going to ever let her go." Steve smiled as he looked at the relief sweep over Pepper's face. "I don't think you will either."

She smiled up at him, tears brimming, "Never." She reached her hand out and gently touched his arm, "Are you okay?"

"Physically or emotionally?" He snorted with a broken laugh. "Physically, I was barely touched. Emotionally?" Steve shook his head and closed his eyes for a moment before taking a deep breath and looking back at Pepper, "I saw a lot of things-did a lot of things during the war that I have nightmares about." He took an unsteady breath and looked up at Pepper, "I knew that Nat had been through a lot in her life. A whole lot more than anyone ever deserved to go through, but to have to watch and listen to what those bastards were doing to her… I hope that never happens again."

Pepper gave him a small sad smile and wrapped her arms around him. "Now, think about how she works."

"It's crazy." His voice broke in the middle of the words. Pepper felt Steve's tear hit her face. She felt him start trembling, unable to hold it in any longer. She squeezed tighter as they went to the floor.

Steve's body shook as he finally got the words out he'd been trying to say to her and Tony for a week, "I couldn't protect her. I'm sorry, Pepper. I'm so, so sorry."

Pepper ran her hand over his back and into his hair, scratching his head like she does Tony's when he's upset, "Steve, it's okay. You're both safe and back with us. That's all that matters. You're both going to be fine. You can join our cuddle puddle whenever you need to, okay?"

"Cuddle puddle?" he asked quizzically.

Pepper drew back from Steve and smiled kindly at him, "It's what Tony calls it. Basically, it's when one or more of us is feeling vulnerable or in his case needy," she smiled teasingly. "But it's when you just need someone to hold onto or vice versa. Nat is surprisingly good at knowing when Tony needs it, even when he doesn't, but then again there aren't too many things she isn't good at. Clint and Nat have been doing it for years. Somehow, she and Tony have Bruce in with us, too. That's worked out favorably with the lullaby. You see," she took her thumb and wiped away his tears, "you can join one or all of us anytime. We'll drop everything as soon as we can and just snuggle. Just ask for a cuddle."

"Clint kinda told me about it, but I— I didn't want to get in the way. Thanks, Pepper," he said quietly.

"Want to join us and we'll start _our_ first cuddle puddle?" she asked with trust and sincerity.

"I'd like that," Steve said smiling. "I'd like that a lot."


End file.
